I Take a Relaxing Break from Wedding and Party Music

Thanks in advance for reading this article. I appreciate your interest and hope you get a few good ideas. I'd love to hear what you liked. Please write me a little COMMENT below. Start a conversation. Tell me what you think, and I'll reply. Promise.
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Earlier today, my wife and I decided to take a relaxing break! It’s always work, work, work around here, so we often take a relaxing break to stay as sane as we can manage.

This time, as we do every year, we participated in the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program. This nationwide program, run by volunteers, gives people eye-popping opportunities to visit some of the most outstanding private gardens in the area.

What a day! I love visiting beautiful gardens and working in my own garden. Some of my favorite moments happen when I garden. Especially when I start daydreaming.

It’s always a thrill to appreciate more of nature’s beauty, nature’s rhythm, nature’s cycle of life. To recognize that every action has consequences, and that sometimes even the smallest effort will have an enormous result.

It’s humbling to recognize that ultimately we’re at the mercy of nature’s power. That whatever changes we make here and there, will endure or not according to a larger scheme of things. A process which we can barely glimpse.

Still, we struggle to create beauty — in our gardens and everywhere else. Most of all, I think the greatest lessons gardens teach me is to plan carefully, work persistently, and be patient. Sooner or later, the reward comes.

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Thanks, Judy. Glad you like this post. I’m with you about visiting gardens — whenever we travel, I always check ahead to find a few beautiful gardens to visit. See a few of these on my Pinterest board about “Favorite Places I”ve Visited” — http://pinterest.com/RobbieSchlosser/favorite-places-i-ve-visited/. By the way, I’m learning to check the Discus spam filter, and there you were again!
-Robbie

How fun! I love gardens and gardening. It is so earthy and grounding (pun intended!). I’m a firm believer in rewarding myself for a job well-done, by giving myself some down time. It’s the refueling that allows our creativity to surge once again. Thanks for sharing the beautiful gardens!

Thanks, Maureena.
“Earthy and grounding”. Yea, I dig it!
But I’m wondering: Why do we call “down time” those opportunities we take to recharge our batteries? Couldn’t it be that’s when we’re really alive and creative, compiling our experiences and trying to make sense of what we know. And in between down times, that’s when we go out and accumulate more data to process.
Does this make sense? What do you think? -Robbie

I do love gardens, though I have been doing less of it the last few years, as I have turned my attention to growing other things in my life. But the garden I created several years ago as a mediation/qigong sanctuary continues to grow without me, in part, because I took a whole year several years ago to just “grow dirt” by doing a big permaculture push. But I think the time is coming fora little moreTLC. Thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks, Vicki,
A pleasure to provide inspiration. Yes, a garden is alive and growing, unless we go out of our way to kill it. It’s always the right time to give it a little more TLC, as you say. Tell me how your gardening develops.
-Robbie

Taking garden tours with my mom is one of our favorite ways to spend an afternoon together. Honestly, it is all I can do to remember to water the plants on my front porch or even in my kitchen! I think that makes me appreciate the beauty and devotion that others put in their gardens even more. The pictures you captured are a lovely reminder that we haven’t done our own tour this year.

Thanks, Jennifer,
Glad you like garden tours, too. When’s your next one?
Priorities. For some of us it’s feed the kids. For others, it’s feed the plants. Thank goodness MOST of us balance our ambitions and accomplish everything. My secret: I post 2 signs inside my door: One says “Remember to water the garden”. The other says, “Remember to turn off the water.” -Robbie

I so understand. We took a weekend off and drove to Grass Valley for a family member’s birthday party, a 40th. We drove up on Friday, partied on Saturday and headed up Sunday. But it felt good to get out, break the routine and it also felt good to get back home too.

Thanks for sharing your day off.Julieanne CaseAlways from the heart!Reconnecting you to your Original Blueprint, Your Essence, Your Joy| Healing you from the Inside Out |Reconnective Healing | The Reconnection| Reconnective Art |http://thereconnectivehighway.com

Thanks, Julieanne,
Glad you enjoyed a relaxing break in the routine, too. Grass Valley is a gorgeous area — did you visit any gardens on your trip? Whenever I travel anywhere, I usually Google “botanical garden” in that area, and stop in for a refreshing few hours. By the way, do you like to paint outdoor garden subjects?
-Robbie

I love a beautiful garden! I love the big formal ones and the small ones in peoples yards. I have stopped and told the owner of the house how much I enjoyed their garden and even sent a thank you card or two to let them know I appreciate their hard work.

However, I don’t do too much gardening myself. I just have small iris garden and some daylillies, low maintenance plants!

Thanks, Jean.
Glad you like beautiful gardens. Whether they’re huge or tiny, we can always find satisfaction there — as well as some useful inspiration. Where do you like to go for a relaxing change-of-pace?
-Robbie

I love beautiful gardens … but seem to only be willing to work for gardens that provide me food. Mine is doing fairly well already this year. Had some home grown zucchinni in our spaghetti sauce tonight and a tomato or two should be ready in the next week! Very exciting and is teaching my kids patience as well;) Hoping they decide to eat some of the fruits of our labor as well as some point this summer!
Thanks for the beautiful break!
Yvonne Elm Hallhttp://www.yvonneelmhall.com

Thanks, Yvonne,
Glad you enjoy gardening, too. Whether we harvest food for the stomach or food for the spirit (or both), gardens can yield abundant harvests. Great lessons, too. Are your kids working with you there?
-Robbie